Executive presence: Looking the part of being in charge

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Harvard business professor Amy Cuddy has found that assuming a confident pose — hands on hips, standing up tall and kicking those heels up on that desk like you just don't care — results in almost instant self-assurance.

Harvard business professor Amy Cuddy has found that assuming a confident pose — hands on hips, standing up tall and kicking those heels up on that desk like you just don't care — results in almost instant self-assurance.

Since then, as part of leadership training at business school, I have been instructed to:

•Kick up my feet on a table and lean back in my chair like Gordon Gekko.

•Stand in front of a mirror for several minutes before a big presentation, puffing up my chest like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

•Sing a song (terribly) with a supporting choir of classmates behind me.

At an Executives' Club of Chicago event Thursday on the topic, AGL Resources chief financial officer Beth Reese advised that executive presence included having neat and trim nails. Cut out everything from your appearance that would distract a listener from the substance of your message — that goes for men too, Reese said.

The guy sitting next to me looked down at his nails and uttered exactly what I was thinking: "Uh-oh."

The dismal reality is that these seemingly bizarre exercises, meeting preparation techniques and even grooming strategies are based on scientific research.

Harvard business professor Amy Cuddy has found that assuming a confident pose — hands on hips, standing up tall and kicking those heels up on that desk like you just don't care — results in almost instant self-assurance.

Practice these "power poses" and you'll fill up a room.

In the singing exercise, classmates (choir) tap the leader on the shoulder and break in, taking the choir in a new direction with a new song.

This helps prepare participants — women especially — for one of the most difficult aspects of the career jungle: breaking into the discussion at meetings.

"The male managers we interviewed were well aware that women often have a hard time making their otherwise strong voices heard in meetings, either because they're not speaking loudly enough or because they can't find a way to break into the conversation at all," according to a 2012 Harvard Business Review study, which included 65 executive interviews.

"More than a third indicated that when their female peers do speak up, they fail to articulate a strong point of view. Half said that women allow themselves to be interrupted, apologize repeatedly, and fail to back up opinions with evidence."

Ouch.

The research behind the importance of appearances is even more disheartening.

A 2007 study by Princeton psychologist Alexander Todorov found that a split-second glance at two candidates' faces is enough to determine which one will win an election. The lab tests showed the glance was sufficient to predict the winner in about 70 percent of the races for U.S. senator and governor in the 2006 elections.

This is why Margaret Thatcher needed to learn to speak in a lower pitch.

This is why retired Quaker Foods North America President Jose Luis Prado had to wear less colorful dress shirts when he moved from Mexico to the United States, and then had to add back some color when he went to Spain, he joked at the Executives' Club event.

"I found that a (corporate) leader's presence is often considered to be personal — something that is not to be discussed," wrote Kristi Hedges in "The Power of Presence," regarding her transition from politics to public relations. "Routinely, a company official would whisper that the CEO was a poor communicator or lacked presence. No one wanted to deal with it head-on. ...

"Time-consuming and expensive workarounds were often employed, such as having paid spokespersons or keeping the CEO behind the scenes. At most, we could gain agreement for media training or a good speechwriter."

Presence doesn't automatically come with a title. But many think it should. So "shortcomings" become embarrassments and create anxiety, Hedges wrote.

"I've met more than one CEO who relied on Ambien to combat the sleepless nights leading up to a board meeting or important presentation, and who then popped a Xanax to get through it," she wrote.

Any executive who isn't working on this should start. No time like the presence.